Excellent offer: Buy miles at 0.8 cents each with the Citi Prestige card

Citibank periodically offers its Citi Prestige members the opportunity to buy additional miles upon meeting a certain minimum spend. Historically we’ve seen prices of 1.2 cents per mile in March 2020 and 1.15 cents per mile in April 2020, but Citibank has just launched another promotion with the cheapest price we’ve seen yet. 

From now till 31 December 2020, Citi Prestige members can buy miles from as low as 0.8 cents each upon meeting a certain minimum spend. I don’t care how COVID-19 has affected your valuation of a mile; 0.8 cents is a phenomenal deal. 

Buy miles at 0.8 cents with the Citi Prestige card

From 22 October to 31 December 2020, Citi Prestige cardholders who meet the following minimum spend can pay an admin fee to purchase additional miles. 

To be eligible, you must have received an invitation from Citibank by SMS or email. Registration is required,  and can be done by sending the following SMS to 72484:

PRESTIGESPEND<space>Last 4 digits of your Citi Prestige Card (main card) number
(e.g PRESTIGESPEND 1234)

You don’t need to choose which tier you’re registering for.

• If you register and spend below S$10,000, you will not be billed any fee, and will not receive any miles
• If you register and spend at least S$10,000 but less than S$20,000, you’ll automatically be billed the S$160 fee for 20,000 miles (in the form of 50,000 ThankYou points)
• If you register and spend at least S$20,000, you’ll automatically be billed the S$360 fee for 42,000 miles (in the form of 105,000 ThankYou points)

You cannot spend S$20,000 and ask to be billed the lower S$160 admin fee in exchange for fewer miles, for example. 

Cardholders will continue to earn the regular 1.3/2.0 mpd on local/overseas spending for the S$10,000/S$20,000 amount, as per normal. 

When is the admin fee billed?

Cardholders who meet the minimum spend will be billed the admin fee within 2 months from the end of the promotion period, i.e by 28 February 2021.

Do remember that your Citi Prestige card must be active for the bonus points to be credited, so by participating in this promotion, you’re implicitly undertaking to hold your card until 28 February 2021 at least. If your S$535 annual fee is due between now and the end of February, that’s definitely something you’ll want to factor into your calculations. 

What spending is eligible?

Qualifying spending for the purposes of this promotion refers to any retail transaction, except

1. any Equal Payment Plan (EPP) purchases
2. refunded/ disputed/ unauthorised/ fraudulent retail purchases
3. Quick Cash/Ready Credit PayLite and other instalment loans
4. Paywise/ cash advance/ quasi-cash transactions/ balance transfers/ annual card membership fees/interest/goods and services taxes
5. bill payments made using the Eligible Card as a source of funds
6. late payment fees and
7. any other form of service/ miscellaneous fees

Although point (v) would appear to exclude CardUp, this has historically been counted as eligible spend during previous promotions. That said, given that Citi PayAll is counted and has a lower admin fee (2% vs 2.25%), it’s hard to see why anyone would want to use CardUp here. The one exception I can think of is rent payments, where CardUp is offering a concessionary 1.9% admin fee till 31 December 2020. 

Transactions such as education bills, insurance, charitable donations and government payments will not earn base points (as per the Citi Prestige’s regular T&Cs), but will count towards the minimum qualifying spend.

The full T&C of this offer can be found here.

Citi ThankYou points are extremely flexible

Although we’ve been talking about “miles” above, you technically earn Citi ThankYou points through this promotion. That’s a good thing, because Citi ThankYou points are the most flexible points currency in Singapore. 

For a S$26.75 transfer fee, cardholders can transfer points to 12 different transfer partners. 

	Transfer Ratio (Points: Miles)
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2
	5:2

Regardless of whether you opt for KrisFlyer, Asia Miles or British Airways Executive Club, buying miles at 0.8 cents each is an excellent price.

For example, you could use KrisFlyer miles to pay for your Singapore Airlines/SilkAir tickets at 1.02 cents each, effectively locking in a 22% discount on future travel needs.

Alternatively, you could convert them into Shangri-La Golden Circle points at a rate of 12 miles= 1 point. Assuming you’re at least a Jade member, you could use Shangri-La Golden Circle points for dining at a rate of 10 points= US$1.25. I’ll save you the math, but buying miles at 0.8 cents each means a 44% discount on dining!

Conclusion

While COVID-19 has certainly caused many to reduce their valuation of a mile, it’s very hard to argue with a price of 0.8 cents each. Assuming you were going to spend the minimum amount for this promotion anyway, it’s an absolute no-brainer to top up the admin fee for the additional miles.

The only caution I’d emphasize is for those whose Citi Prestige annual fee comes due between now and 28 February 2021. You’ll need to commit to another year of membership if you want to take advantage of this bonus, and while they do give a further 25,000 miles for the S$535 annual fee, that represents a much less attractive 2.14 cents per mile. 

For a full review of the Citi Prestige card, check out the article below.

Review: Citi Prestige Card